


Pater

by yakkotyak



Category: Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Ancient Rome, Dadza, Families of Choice, Found Family, Gen, Gladiators, Platonic Relationships, Social Outcasts, also hes like technos sponsor and tries to keep him from being brutally killed lmao, names and vocab will be explained in the authors note, phil doesnt fit social norms and wil and techno arent seen as ppl basically, phil just kind of adopted them, sorry ancient rome wasnt nice :/, techno is a gladiator, they all have different names bcuz yeah, tommy and tubbo make a brief appearance, wilbur is essentially an ex slave
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-09
Updated: 2020-10-09
Packaged: 2021-03-07 21:29:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 996
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26914423
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yakkotyak/pseuds/yakkotyak
Summary: Phillipus walks with his charges after a gladiator battle and makes a realization.
Relationships: Dave | Technoblade & Phil Watson, Dave | Technoblade & Wilbur Soot, Dave | Technoblade & Wilbur Soot & Phil Watson, Wilbur Soot & Phil Watson
Comments: 9
Kudos: 145





	Pater

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! I originally wrote this for a historical sleepy bois inc fanfic contest a while back and I decided to post it. I'm not an expert on literally anything roman but I studied latin and I'm very interested in ancient Roman culture so I tried to make this as accurate as I could-- but I am but a fool so some stuff probably isn't accurate lol. Below are the names and vocab used in this fic. 
> 
> names:  
> Philippus--Phil  
> The following names are “cognomen”, or nicknames based on personality/physical features:  
> Catulus and Celsus--Tubbo and TommyInnit. Names mean “young pup” and “tall”  
> Verres--Techno. Name means “pig/boar”  
> Longus--Wilbur. Name means” tall”  
> Aemilianus--Dream. Name means “rival”
> 
> Vocab because I’m a nerd:  
> Petasus--type of wide brimmed hat  
> Gladius--a type of short sword  
> Ash drink--ancient gatorade. High in calcium, very nasty  
> Libertus--a freedman, or ex-slave. Technically Roman citizens but still indebted to their master by law  
> Sine missione--”without mercy”, or a gladiator battle in which the loser must die. A match with missio allowed the loser to live, as gladiators were expensive to train  
> Sacra Via--Sacred Road. Big road leading through the Forum, the hotspot of Rome  
> Patrician--upper class Roman. Wore certain clothes to distinguish themselves and rarely socialized with normal citizens. Anyone below normal citizens (slaves, gladiators, etc.) were not considered people by most  
> Patria potestas--power of the father. Basically the man of the household was supreme leader. Inherited by the eldest son  
> Pi’leus--a felt cap signifying liberty of freedmen  
> Lares--household gods or spirits

Philippus stood at the lowest level of the amphitheatre, waving to the young boys, Catulus and Celsus, who were lugging rakes and sand bags in order to clean up after the final battle of the evening. With the festivities over, most of the spectators had already left, though some remained to grab food or drink before the vendors packed up. Philippus presumed many had made their way to the Forum to discuss the games, or were on their way to dinner before the baths became too crowded. The sun wasn’t as harsh as it had been earlier, but he was still glad for the protection his petasus provided as he gazed into the arena.

Staggering towards him across the bloodied and well-beaten sand floor of the amphitheatre was Verres, one of the more prestigious gladiators that had competed today--which honestly wasn’t saying much--who was sponsored by Philippus himself. The large man was clearly tired, covered in dirt and blood, very little of which was his own. Despite his exhaustion, he held his heavy shield and gladius with steady hands as he made his way over to his master.

Philippus reached up and pulled Verres’ helmet off for him, revealing his shock of berry red hair, lightened by sweat and dust. “You’ll have to re-dye it.” He noted as the younger man dropped his equipment and collapsed onto one of the stone benches. 

“Already?” 

“Unless you prefer it lighter. Longus is fetching you ash drink, by the way. You fought well.”

“I always fight well. That’s why you haven’t gotten rid of me yet.” Verrus said with a grin. “For I have vowed ‘to endure to be burned, to be bound, to be beaten, and to be killed by the sword’ if I fail.”

Philippus swatted his arm. “And if I weren’t so nice you’d likely have endured each and every one for selling your soul to the arena.”

Verres simply shrugged at that, rubbing at the soles of his feet with a grimace. “Better than a boring life.”

“I’d rather keep my boring life than live and die like this, you crazy man.” Came an amused voice from behind the two men. Longus, Philippus’ libertus, had returned with the ash drink. Verres wrinkled his nose at the foul mixture of charred plant and bone, but chugged it as quickly as possible. 

“Maybe you’re right. A boring life might be worth avoiding that drink for the rest of my days.”

Longus helped Verres to his feet as the three laughed. “What a magnificent spectacle! Perhaps one day I’ll write an epic of you.”

Philippus raised an amused eyebrow as they made their way out of the amphitheatre. “An epic?”

“Yes, an epic! Of Verres, the gladiator who never dies--but cowers in the face of health drinks.”

Verres scoffed. “You’d better write about me, because someone needs to document my amazing skills. Aemilianus will have to train for another thousand years before he beats me. He was lucky the match wasn’t sine missione, otherwise those boys would be raking more than blood from the sand.”

Philippus shook his head fondly at the bickering that had become so commonplace between Verres and Longus. They made their way back along the Sacra Via and through the Forum, the older man content to follow along in silence. As they walked, Philippus was very aware of the confused and disgusted stares of the other Romans who littered the Forum, filtering through the temples and down the roads. It didn’t surprise him; after all, the sight of a patrician with color in his silk tunic and hair down to his shoulders walking casually with anyone of a lower status, let alone a gladiator and a libertus, was unheard of. 

But as unsurprising as the looks were, it still upset him more than it should have. He really shouldn’t have been with the two men anyways. It was no one’s fault but his own, of course, for befriending two men who couldn’t be further from his own status. He just hadn’t expected to become so close to them when he’d inherited patria potestas and freed his father’s slave, nor when he’d volunteered to watch over the young boy in town who had decided to throw his life away in favor of battle and glory. 

While he wasn’t a bachelor, Philippus had no children, which was uncommon for a patrician family, but it suited him and his wife well enough. To his own surprise, the more that he was asked about it, the more that his peers lamented his lack of an heir, the more that they eagerly explained the excitement and importance that came with his paternal duties, the more he realized why he felt no desire to pursue that path.

“Philippus?” Verres asked, as Longus gave a hesitant tug on the older man’s tunic. With a jolt he realized that they had stopped. Oh. They’d reached the bathhouse already?

He glanced at his charges, one who had been gifted the right to be a person, and the other who was destined to die like a criminal amongst the screams of a crowd, both of whom towered over him. Longus’ eyes were wide and sparkling, smile quirking his lips, pi’leus tucked over his wild hair. Verres’ face was as closed off and gloomy as usual, but his shoulders were loose and behind his eyes there was a glimmer of something content and trusting. 

Philippus felt his chest tighten oddly, and smiled at them, blinking dust from his eyes. How strange it was, he thought, that he felt so old, so large, so protecting of them. How strange it was that he loved them!

“Well, go on then. I dare say you’ve earned it!” 

And at that his boys turned and ran into the baths, grins plastered on their young faces, and Philippus wondered which of his Lares had been so kind as to bear him witness to such a glorious birth.


End file.
